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As a person with way too many loose stones that I need to turn into jewelry... I’m happy to see this thread back 
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Jul 29, 2019 06:57
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| # ¿ May 21, 2024 18:03 |
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Garnets can range quite a bit in terms of brightness/sparkle. The link Xun posted has some good examples. If you don’t mind a more pastel shade, you could also maybe find some lighter garnets that are also worth less...just from the other end of the spectrum If you want deep saturated color + brightness and sparkle at most lightings, you’ll likely need to pay more for it.To get some color into the thread...here’s a couple garnets I have (2 rhodolites and a tsavorite). Not necessarily showstopping gems, but with color and fire that I liked & matched the budget I had for them. Brighter direct light.  Slightly indirect.  Lower light. 
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Aug 6, 2019 16:22
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Scarodactyl posted:Garnets are a bit paradoxical on this. In the classic red/pink color range really light tones are fairly rare, so you don't get the same kind of super cheap pale material that you would with beryl or quartz or what have you. Light toned pink and peach garnets in particular are a really hot commodity right now (see how 'Mahenge' garnets have been selling). Ahh, that's a good point! I had been reading up on green tsavorites, and saw that light/dark generally had less value than the mid tones.
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Aug 6, 2019 20:57
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It’s my first time at Tucson! Omg, I thought it would be just a couple of locations. Not 30+ hotels scattered across the area :O The FOMO is strong.
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Feb 7, 2020 18:34
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I was looking for gems (particularly weird rare poo poo) and facet rough. I ended up spending most of my time doing Pueblo, 22nd street, JGX, and AGTA. Was cool seeing some random dino bones too
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Feb 9, 2020 07:53
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Tucson acquisitions! Cobalt spinel chips, rhodochrosite cab, russian demantoid, hauyne, ethiopian emerald, and some grandiderite.
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Feb 12, 2020 20:44
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Fantastic work 
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Aug 6, 2020 05:54
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Practicing my microphotography! Opal.  Winza sapphire.  Pezzottaite.  Spinel.  Note, any streakiness is mostly my greasy fingers, not sloppy polish. Dumb question. But how do folks clean their gems before photography? My methods still have them pretty gross.
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Aug 9, 2020 01:40
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Scarodactyl posted:Nics pics! (To be a bit pedantic they are technically photomicrographs--microphotographs are photos made tiny. Apparently they got there first, namingwise). Xun posted:woah those are really awesome photos! My hands shake so much its a struggle to even get one nice photo Xun posted:Usually right before I take photos I drop the gem into acetone for awhile, then I only move them around with a gem grabby thing or tweezers afterwards. It usually doesn't need wiping but sometimes I transfer them to a glasses cleaning cloth or just a napkin if I'm lazy and wipe them off on there making sure I don't touch the gem with my fingers at all. Scarodactyl posted:For prep alochol with fresh qtips works pretty well though it's kind of slow and a pain. Maybe an ultrasonic cleaner for something stubborn. One issue is some gems are triboelectric, so when you rub them they develop static electricity which attracts more dust. Cheers for the word! And iirc, alcohol & acetone shouldn't cause a problem with any gems unless they've been oiled/dyed, yeah? Today was spent trying to photograph a padparadscha to be accurate to its color. A task, which I have decided, is virtually impossible.
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Aug 10, 2020 00:47
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Ugh. I feel you. I tried to take some microscope pictures of some emeralds, Paraiba tourm, mint garnets, tsavorites. All looked like absolute trash with none showing the real color. I’ve decided photographing green/teal stones is also impossible.
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Aug 10, 2020 19:18
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Some new photomicrographs! Slightly less lint. Purple montana sapphire with some inclusions. Rounded rutile?  Laurenthomasite. Fairly newly discovered trichroic mineral.  Grossular garnet. Color is wrong in the photograph. Much more minty blue green, but the cutting is beautiful.  Chunk of cobalt spinel. Turned much more violet under my lights.  Padparadscha. 
Seluin fucked around with this message at 00:41 on Oct 11, 2020 |
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Oct 11, 2020 00:36
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Unsure. Apparently it was shown off a bit at the most recent Tucson. I’ve only seen a very small number of specimens and faceted gems for sale online.
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Oct 11, 2020 05:53
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Scarodactyl posted:I just got my very first opposed bar back from the cutter! Dudeeee. That’s a stunner. How big is it?
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Nov 7, 2020 21:41
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That’s a remarkable blue for being natural! Excited to see what it turns into! In the interest of sharing... mine is tinier than the pixel amethyst, but I love it anyway.  Lil red beryl baby from Wah Wah. Oiled but no other clarity treatments. Building up my beryl family
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Nov 7, 2020 22:39
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Thank you! I’d been searching for a bit, but everything i could find was either tiny, ugly, or $$$$$. I did briefly dip my toe into rough buying for it, but gosh. Included beryl rough buying was hard enough. Red beryl rough is master class difficulty level.
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Nov 7, 2020 23:55
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Lovely picture! And +1 to rutilated quartz being beautiful stuff.
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Apr 15, 2021 04:35
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EMERALD TIME. Let's look inside an emerald. Original rough.  Now cut (not by me). Note the inclusion on the upper left. We'll visit that soon.   Now, INTO ITS GUTS.   And finally...after it was set, and now being much harder to photomicrograph. 
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Aug 14, 2021 01:22
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For Tucson, before you go, set a budget. Do your best to spend less than 2x that.
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Aug 6, 2022 20:49
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There’s a small cobalt spinel that’s been lost in my carpet for (going on) 2 years now 🥲
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Dec 21, 2023 03:11
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Scarodactyl posted:Cobalt spinels are fluorescent--must be buried pretty deep if that didn't turn it up. it’s absolutely escaped me. i’ve done UV light, vacuum with a stocking over it, but still…gone
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Dec 21, 2023 04:49
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Recently got my first OEC and it has so much charm and character. Love this chunky faceted boi
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Dec 23, 2023 05:50
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| # ¿ May 21, 2024 18:03 |
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Scarodactyl posted:Oops, I forgot to mention but I am at the Tucson gem show selling our wide range of exotic lab created gems at 22nd street, main tent booth c22. any interesting info or new finds at the land of Tucson?
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Feb 3, 2024 22:15
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